LONG-awaited proposals to build a new supermarket development in Bacup appear to have cleared the final hurdle.

Councillors have approved plans to erect a new store on land off Lee Street and Gas Street, said to be for the West Yorkshire- based chain Morrisons.

Only the details of the external materials need to be resolved between developers Optimisation and planning bosses.

Under the scheme a two-storey stone-and-slate office block, attached to the health centre, will be preserved.

But the council depot in Henrietta Street, the former Horace’s nightclub and a number of nearby industrial units would disappear.

The development was initially hampered when it emerged that part of the land was affected by a covenant, held by the Co-operative Group, restricting rival retailers from moving in.